Crackdown

Beijing plans to launch late this month a clean-up of "triad-linked junket operators" who make a profit by bringing in mainland high-rollers to casinos in Macau and lending them money, a British newspaper reported, quoting unnamed law enforcement sources as saying.

Shenzhen NGO worker Su Yuan has been forced to fight for her rights after about 60 men evicted her and five colleagues from their office in August. Their ordeal was part of a seven-month Guangdong crackdown that shuttered at least eight non-governmental labour organisations in Shenzhen. Su talks about how they and their group, called the Little Grass Workers' Home, were mistreated.

Mainland police have arrested nearly 1,000 people in the crackdown on a Christian sect that spread doomsday rumours and targeted communist rule, state media said ahead of the supposedly Mayan-foretold apocalypse.

Former Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva is to be charged with murder over the death of a civilian during the 2010 "red shirt" rallies, officials said yesterday, the first government figure to face court over the bloodshed.

Criticised for moving too slowly against illegal structures on village homes in the New Territories, the Buildings Department yesterday appealed to another branch of the government for help in identifying hot spots of illicit construction.

Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai has defended his controversial anti-triad crackdown with fervour and revolutionary rhetoric, in a move analysts say hints at his readiness to do whatever it takes to safeguard his pet project and his political capital.

New World Development and New World China Land saw their shares fall slightly yesterday after the group confirmed that three of their sites in Beijing were listed as idle by the Ministry of Land and Resources. New World Development fell 0.14 per cent to HK$14.38 and its mainland property unit fell 0.36 per cent to HK$2.78.

One of the most popular Xbox 360 games to date makes a return with cooler guns, gear, vehicles and an overly friendly zombie horde. There are plenty of things to shoot and pummel for the action adrenaline junkie and budding sociopath.

Today, we mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. More than two decades have passed since People's Liberation Army troops crushed China's biggest peaceful protest, causing a terrible loss of life. But memories of this dark day in the nation's history have not faded.

Twenty years ago today, PLA tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square to crush China's biggest peaceful protest. Troops opened fire on defenceless civilians, leaving dozens - perhaps hundreds - dead on the streets. The country is still living under the shadow of this terrible chapter in its history. It is time for the central government to face up to the truth and make amends, so China can move on.

Despite authorities tightening their grip on the internet, at least one mainland netizen is using a personal blog to get around the 'Great Firewall of China' to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Inspired by Ray Woo's letter ('Shedding light on Tiananmen death numbers', May 26), I propose a naming system that classifies killing events objectively. An event with a death toll ranging from one to 999 should be an 'incident'; 1,000 to 9,999, an 'occasion'; 10,000 to 99,999, an 'event'; 100,000 to 999,999, a 'massacre'; and, more than that, a 'bloodbath'.